


The Great Red K Caper

by Poetgirl925



Category: Smallville
Genre: F/M, Humor, Mystery, Red Kryptonite, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 05:19:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6891769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poetgirl925/pseuds/Poetgirl925
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reports of foul play in Metropolis' trendy club district have Chloe on the trail of a new story. With Clark and Lois out of town, and Chloe still feeling the tension from a months old encounter with Oliver, she hits the streets on her own. But when she wakes up after a night of investigating with no memory of where she is or how she got there, Oliver and the team are on the case.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blank Slate

**Author's Note:**

> Another story I'm moving over. Just a fun, lighthearted caper style mystery that I wrote for Halloween a few years ago.

Chloe read through the copies of the police reports one more time looking for anything she might have missed.  Two girls dead, two reports of sexual assault, and three girls reporting missing time.  In all of the cases, any tests for drugs had come up negative.  The cops were treating the cases as being completely separate, but Chloe didn’t think she was imagining the pattern.

All of the women had been with friends or boyfriends on the nights in question.  All of the crimes had occurred within a period of just a few days, and all of them had apparently been out at various clubs around Metropolis.  Friends of the victims reported that they’d been drinking, though not heavily.  One minute they were there, and then they disappeared without saying anything to anyone.

Interviewing the girls was difficult since the police had advised them not to talk to anyone pending their investigation.  But Chloe had already spoken to one of them.  Kelly Franklin was a student at Met U and had been in some of the same writing classes with Chloe.  After feeling like the police weren’t taking her report seriously, and knowing that Chloe interned at _The Daily Planet_ , she’d decided to take her own investigative approach.

According to Kelly, she and her friends had been to a few haunted frat houses on campus that night and later decided to hit the club circuit.  For the week leading up to Halloween, many of the bars and clubs in Metropolis’ trendy warehouse district had joined together for a Halloween themed week of entertainment.  Popular bands rotated between bars, and a special entry fee got you into at least three bars of your choice along with the house drink special at each one.

Kelly remembered most of the night clearly, but the third bar was where things had gone hazy for her.  Her friends had reported her missing from the Blue Monkey Lounge.  They’d had a few drinks by then and were listening to the live band, and then Kelly was gone.  Video surveillance showed her walking out with a guy she claimed she didn’t know – the same guy she woke up with the next morning.

It was a classic case of he said she said.  Kelly went to the police and filed an assault report, assuming based on her blackout that she’d been drugged.  But the tox report had come back clean, and her accused attacker swore she was the one who wanted to go home with him.  Since the video didn’t show Kelly being mistreated and she appeared to be walking out of the club of her own free will, the police seemed to have decided it was a case of one night stand remorse.

But that didn’t explain the other young woman whose story matched up eerily with Kelly’s, nor did it explain the two dead girls reported missing in a similar manner by their friends.  Then there were the ones who had gotten separated from friends for a brief time but hadn’t actually been missing.  According to those reports, the girls’ boyfriends said they were acting strangely, and they had woken up the next morning experiencing a period of missing time. 

The problem for Chloe was that they hadn’t all disappeared from the same club.  They had, however, all gone missing from the clubs hosting the Halloween events in the warehouse district.  And as much as dressing up for Halloween wasn’t really her thing anymore, she knew where she was headed that night.

_And who’s going to be your backup?_   Her inner voice of reason was back to reminding her that with Lois and Clark out of town on an assignment, her choices for backup were limited.  She was pretty sure Bart was still in town, but putting up with his blatant attempts to romance her would be distracting.  According to Clark, AC was back in Florida for a rally at which he’d probably end up being arrested.  While his eagerness to save his ocean friends was endearing, Chloe wished he’d show a little more discretion in the process. 

There was Victor, of course, but if Victor went with her then he wouldn’t be available to patrol or run backup for Oliver.  And the last thing she wanted was to see Oliver right now, or any time before she was at least old enough to claim senility as a reason for forgetting their last encounter.

Five months ago, Chloe had asked Oliver to help her get into a charity fundraiser hosted by the wife of one of Metropolis’ premiere attorneys to the corporate world, Bill Leiman.  She’d been looking for evidence that he had helped Holomon International cover up safety violations which led to the deaths of almost fifty night shift workers in one of their labs.

They’d gotten into his home office with little trouble.  It was what happened next that made Chloe want to hop a time machine back to the moment when she involved Oliver in the first place.

_“I hope you’re getting close because those guards are going to be making the rounds in another five minutes, tops,” Oliver advised as he stood near the door._

_“I’m through the firewall and I’m copying the files now, but I need a couple of minutes to cover my tracks.”  Chloe’s fingers flew across the keyboard, and less than two minutes later she sat back.  “Done.  Let’s get out of here.”_

_She joined Oliver as he cracked open the door only to close it again.  “Damn it.  They’re in the hallway.”  He grabbed her arm and pulled her against the wall with him._

_Chloe’s mind raced.  If they got caught in here and Leiman suspected what they’d been after, it would be bad - bad for her but even worse for Oliver.  He had the most to lose if people started to look beneath the careless playboy façade he used to mask his vigilante activities.  And why would a playboy be in the office?_

_She grabbed one of the champagne glasses they’d brought in with them and splashed it all over the front of Oliver’s shirt._

_Oliver stepped away from her, confused.  “What the hell are you doing?”_

_Chloe grabbed the other glass and downed it before gripping the lapels of Oliver’s jacket.  “Kiss me.”_

_“Whoa, Chloe…”_

_She didn’t give him a chance to argue, leaning up and capturing his lips in a kiss that immediately sent a shock wave down her spine.  Holy hell, she thought dizzily, wondering if it was the champagne or Oliver that suddenly made her world tilt.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back with her until her hips hit the desk behind her._

_It didn’t take Oliver long to get into the role.  He lifted her onto the desk and jerked her hips against his.  Chloe felt the soft material of his dress pants against her inner thighs and moaned, pulling him closer.  His lips were softer than she’d expected, but they were also demanding as they slanted across hers again and again._

_A throat clearing near the doorway startled them both.  “Excuse me, Mr. Queen?”_

_Oliver pulled back, and Chloe put her hand up to her lips as she took a ragged breath.  Every one of her nerve endings was still tingling, and her hands were trembling.  Get it together, Sullivan, she ordered herself._

_Chloe stood on shaky legs and refused to meet Oliver’s gaze._

_He put a steadying arm around her before turning to the men in the doorway.  “Sorry, my uh… date and I got a little carried away.  I spilled some bubbly on my shirt and we were looking for a bathroom.”  He stumbled a bit as he approached the men, causing Chloe to sway on her heels and grasp his arm tighter._

_Regaining her balance, Chloe chanced a peek at the men and saw one of them rolling his eyes as he spoke into a radio.  “No problem here – just a couple of inebriated guests.”_

_“Mr. Queen, the bathroom is on the opposite end of this hall.  If you’ll follow me?”  The taller of the two men kept his face expressionless as Oliver played the harmless drunk card all the way to the bathroom.  When Oliver tried to follow Chloe in, the man grabbed his arm and eased him back.  “Sir, that’s ladies only.”_

_Chloe’s face was burning as she disappeared into the bathroom.  She walked over to the mirror and began repairing the damage to her makeup and hair that their little romp in the office had caused.  She’d idly imagined what kissing Oliver might be like once or twice.  She’d just never imagined it would be that disorienting, that… passionate.  No wonder women lined up all over the city for a night out with him._

Chloe put a halt to her memories of that night because no good was going to come of her thinking too much about that kiss.  She’d managed to get her act together in the bathroom and emerged playing her tipsy part.  She giggled appropriately as Oliver continued his casual playboy act in front of Mr. Leiman while handing over his generous donation check. 

Chloe had gotten what she needed to nail the CEO of Holoman International, but she’d asked her editor, Perry White, to let Lois write the story since she didn’t want Leiman to be suspicious.  In the end, no one was the wiser about their real activities in Leiman’s office, and neither Oliver nor Chloe said anything about what happened that night.

Chloe had even managed to mostly avoid Oliver since then.  While he’d been in and out of the city on both QI and League related business, she graduated from Metropolis University, and she and Jimmy rather impulsively decided to move in together.  News of that decision apparently reached Oliver and the others via Clark.  She'd endured one very uncomfortable League meeting with Oliver looking at her speculatively and Bart cracking bad jokes about his Chloelicious being off the market.

Domestic bliss lasted exactly two months before Jimmy told Chloe that he was moving out.  He said she was distant and he never knew where she was or what she was doing.  And when what she was doing so often involved helping Clark and the others, she didn’t have much of a defense.  Even when they were together, they somehow managed to feel like they were apart.  It also didn’t help that when Jimmy kissed her, she thought about someone else.

Chloe sighed and pushed her chair back.  It felt strange to be leaving the office so early, but she had a costume to pick up.  She decided to hold off on backup – she had the team on speed dial if she needed them. 

* * *

 

Chloe slid onto a bar stool at the Blue Monkey Lounge and looked around.  A band was playing, and the room was noisy and crowded.  She sighed and shifted, feeling a little too warm in the skintight red leather pants she was wearing.  She fought the urge to adjust the neckline of her equally tight, midriff-baring black top that exposed a lot more cleavage than she usually went for. 

“Edward Sucks, huh?”  One of the bartenders smiled at her shirt as she walked over. 

“Well, it was either that or Bite Me,” Chloe replied as she put her vampire stake on the bar.  She’d chosen the costume for ease of mobility, but she was beginning to think heroes made leather look easier to wear than it really was.  Then again, it was still better than the frolicking fairy and barely there, sexy nurse and cop costumes that were the only other options available in her size.

“So, house special?”  The bartender nodded at the ticket Chloe was holding.  “Since you bought the all access ticket, you’ll get one free house special at each of the three clubs you visit tonight.”

“That would be what, exactly?”  Chloe knew the police had ruled out drugs, but she still wasn’t ruling anything out until she had a better idea of what was going on.

“The same at every bar – it’s part of the theme this year.  Basically soda and cheap liquor, but it’s not very strong if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Any chance I could get the soda without the liquor?  I need to pace myself.”

The bartender shrugged and walked to the end of the bar, returning a couple of minutes later with Chloe’s drink.

“Orange?”  Chloe raised her brows.

“In color, not flavor.  Part of the theme.”

Chloe took a sip of the soda and leaned forward.  “Listen, there have been reports of a few girls having trouble here in the warehouse district in the last week.  Two reported assaults and two murders – I’m sure you must have heard about it.”

“Yeah, we’ve been told to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious.”  The bartender rolled her eyes.  “Look around, it’s like ninety percent of the guys here at this time of year.”

“Do you remember seeing any of the girls here?”

“I remember Red Riding Hood because she sat here at the bar for a few minutes. She was with the same guy our security cam caught her leaving with.  I told the cops that she didn’t look like she was being bothered by the guy then, but I can’t say what happened after they left.”

She was talking about Kelly.  “No chance he drugged her?”

“Not that I saw, and she wasn’t acting wild or spaced out.  They were talking, and then I saw them kissing.  She looked like she was into it.”  A guy at the end of the bar called out, and the bartender waved to him.  “I have customers, but let me know if I can get you anything else.”

Chloe sipped her soda as she looked around the room.  Now that she was here, she wasn’t exactly sure how to go about investigating on her own.  Other than talking to the bartenders and listening for problems like anyone searching for a missing member of their group, there wasn’t much she could do.

An hour and a half later she had talked to every bartender at the Blue Monkey and hadn’t learned anything useful.  Chloe picked up her stake and slid off her stool only to bump into a guy who was trying to get the bartender’s attention.

“Sorry,” he said, his eyes going straight to her boobs.  “So, if I say my name is Edward, does that mean you’ll let me…”

Chloe stepped around him, giving the guy a sharp elbow to his ribs in the process.  She had a feeling it was going to be a really long night.

* * *

 

Chloe yawned and burrowed her head deeper into her pillow.  Her bed felt weird though.  She shivered and reached for her blanket.  Or, she tried to reach for it.  What was wrong with her arm?

She opened her eyes blearily and squinted at the clock on her nightstand.  Only her clock wasn’t there, and neither was her nightstand because this wasn’t her bedroom.

Adrenaline shot through her as she pulled at her arm again, only to realize that someone had cuffed her to the bed she was lying on.  _What the hell?_   Heart pounding, Chloe looked down and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that she was still wearing her costume.  Swallowing hard, she looked around the room and froze.  At least fifteen people were sitting on folding chairs watching her. 

She closed her eyes.  _I’m dreaming – I have to be._   She opened her eyes cautiously, but she was still in the same strange room and she was still cuffed to the bed wearing her vampire slayer costume.  She looked down and when she saw that her stake was still tucked into the loop in her leather pants, she wondered if it was sturdy enough to actually be used as a weapon.

Chloe tried to remember something - anything - about how she had gotten here.  Had she gone to a party?  Why couldn't she remember?  Maybe she could bluff her way through this.  “Okay guys, this was fun but I need to go now.  Who has the key?”  Chloe shook her arm, rattling the cuffs against the cheap metal headboard.

No one replied, and the way they just sat there watching her was creepy.  She studied the room, realizing it was a large, loft style apartment.  She knew from apartment hunting in Metropolis that apartments like this were popular in the warehouse district.  That meant she probably wasn’t far from the clubs where she’d been last night.  But how had she gotten here?

She pulled on the cuffs again.  “Seriously, I want the key to these cuffs and I want to leave.”  No one answered.  One guy reached under his chair and brought up a box of doughnuts.  He took one and passed the box. 

Chloe took a deep breath and tried to force herself to calm down.  Spying her bag on the floor beside the bed, she practically dove for it.  The handcuffs bit into her left wrist as she stretched her right arm and finally managed to snag her bag.  She tore it open and grabbed her phone.  _Please, please pick up._

“Hello?”

Chloe didn’t think she’d ever been so happy to hear Oliver’s voice.  “Oliver, thank God.”

“Chloe, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I need you to get Victor to run a trace on my phone, and he needs to do it fast.  I’m handcuffed in some…”

Beep.  No, no, no.  Chloe didn’t have to look at her phone to know the battery was dying. 

“Chloe, where the hell are you?”  She could hear movement on Oliver’s side – a door slamming, muffled voices.  He was probably at the office.

“I don’t know where I am because I can’t remember getting here!  I’m cuffed to a bed and I have no idea whose apartment this is, and there are people here, and I don’t know them either!  And my phone…” 

Beep!

“is dead,” Chloe finished, fighting the urge to cry.  Damn it, she was not going to cry in front of these weirdos.  She put the phone in her bag and pulled out her taser.  At least she still had that.

She looked up to see her little audience still watching her, and her temper flared.  “Stop looking at me!”  When a few of them clapped, she drew herself against the headboard and tightened her grip on her taser.  What the hell had she gotten herself into?


	2. Everything Has Changed

Oliver ran a hand over the back of his neck and paced as Victor ran the trace on Chloe’s phone.  “How much longer?”

“Ollie, man, we’re all worried but you’re not helping.  I told you that her phone is off, so it’s going to take a minute to pull up the last location.”  Victor continued working steadily.

Oliver’s jaw clenched almost painfully.  “It’s already been more than twenty minutes, and we don’t know how much time Chloe has because we don’t know what’s going on.  What I do know is that she was terrified when she called me, and she said she was handcuffed to a bed.  So I want to see some fucking progress, Victor.”

AC stepped between Oliver and Victor while Bart looked on with a worried expression.  When he’d gotten the call from Oliver, it had taken him only minutes to race down to Florida to notify AC.  They’d arrived at the Clocktower ahead of Oliver and Victor who had both been at the QI offices – Oliver for meetings and Victor for a system upgrade. 

Getting Victor up and ready had taken time and as far as Bart could see, Oliver was starting to lose his cool.  Bart dialed Clark again, sighing when it went straight to voicemail.  “Stretch, you gotta start keeping your phone on, man.  Chloe’s gotten herself into some trouble, and we may need you.  Call me when you get this.”

Bart knew Clark was on assignment with Lois, and Lois wasn’t exactly in on his super secrets.  But he also knew that if they didn’t let Clark know that Chloe was in trouble, he’d be upset about it later and would likely lay into Oliver about it.  And with Oliver in his present mood, that could only lead to bad juju.

“Got it!”  Victor’s voice rang with relief as he brought up a satellite image on the monitor.  “Last location was in the middle of the warehouse district – bunch of clubs and restaurants in that area, but I think these warehouses have all been converted into apartments.”

“Let’s go.”  Oliver was halfway to the door, and the others quickly followed.

Since it was broad daylight on a weekday, they were in street clothes, and they couldn’t risk going out with visible weapons.  Instead, each of them was carrying a small gun loaded with tranquilizer darts.  Checking his phone one more time, Bart hoped that was all they’d need.

* * *

 

Chloe watched the people in the room carefully.  They had stared at her for a while, but after she stopped talking and moving around, they seemed to lose interest.  A few peeked up at her occasionally, but most of the men and women were busy with their phones and tablets now.

She gradually relaxed when it became clear that they weren’t planning to attack en masse, but she tensed up again when she heard the door open.  A shaggy haired man about her age walked in carrying a tray of coffees and a pastry box from one of the nearby cafes.  Wearing a designer T-shirt, vest and scarf paired with tight jeans and loafers, his look screamed hipster more than crazed killer.

“Oh good, you’re awake.  Want some coffee?”  He set the items down on the table and approached her, holding out one of the cups.

Chloe stared at him incredulously.  Was he for real?  “What I want is the key to these handcuffs.”

“Oh sorry about that – you were a little out of control last night, Chloe.  Not that I mind usually, just not when I’ve got an audience.”  He set the coffee down on his bedside table and rummaged in a drawer.  “Here we go.”

Chloe cringed away from him as he approached her.  She brought her taser up.  “I don’t know who you are or how you got me here, but don’t even think about touching me.  Just put the key down where I can reach it and back up.”

He froze, eyes on her taser.  “Is that a taser?”

“Yes – if you or your creepy little friends try to hurt me, I will definitely hurt you.  Key, please.”

“Okay look, I don’t know what your damage is, Chloe, but you came here under your own steam.  When you got a little rowdy, I cuffed you to the headboard and you went to sleep.  End of story.”

“I don’t really care about your story right now. I just want the key to these handcuffs so I can leave.”

“Yeah and what if I give you the key and you come after me with your taser?  I mean, you practically attacked me last night.”  He backed away from her.  “You’re crazy, you know that?”

Chloe’s palms were sweating, and she adjusted her grip on the taser.  Maybe she could just wait him out until Oliver arrived.  She didn’t doubt that the team was busy figuring out where she was at that moment.  “Says the guy who cuffed me to a headboard.  What is this, some kind of cult?  Are you the one responsible for killing those girls?”

He looked confused.  “What girls?”

Before Chloe could answer, she heard the door bang open.  “Chloe?”

Finally.  “Here, I’m here!”

Oliver rushed into the room with Victor, Bart and AC close behind him.  Oliver came straight to her, and Chloe noticed that the others immediately took up defensive positions between them and the strange audience in the room.

“Are you hurt?”  Oliver said, eyes flashing with anger when he saw her cuffed to the headboard.  His fingers went to her wrist, and she winced.  She was going to have a lot of bruising there. 

“I’m fine, but that guy has the key.”  She nodded to the hipster who had begun shouting at AC and the others.

Oliver charged across the room and shoved the guy, who backed away quickly.  “Is this how you have your fun, by assaulting women?”

“That bitch is crazy if she says I assaulted her,” he shot back, throwing the key at Oliver.  “I want all of you out of here or I’m calling the cops.”

Oliver lunged at the guy, but AC and Victor both grabbed him and held him back.  Bart scooped up the key, and when he unlocked Chloe’s handcuffs, the men and women seated on the folding chairs all stood and clapped.  Bart looked over at Oliver.  “Hey Bossman, I think I know what’s going on here.”

* * *

 

Chloe wrapped Oliver’s jacket around her a bit more tightly as Ryan ushered his audience members out of the loft.  Oliver sat beside her at the kitchen table, his arm wrapped tightly around her.  She should pull away – for one thing, the guys were starting to notice.

But after being terrified for the last hour, it felt good to have Oliver beside her.  And even though she knew it was something she couldn’t afford to get used to, she wanted to hang onto that feeling for just a little while longer.

She rubbed her aching wrist absently and felt Oliver’s hand on her arm.  She stilled, watching as his fingers drifted down to touch to bruises standing out against her pale skin.  She looked up at him, surprised by the raw emotion she saw in his eyes.

“Sorry about that.  I figured it’s better not to have an audience for the rest of this discussion.”  Ryan joined them at the table.

Chloe looked away from Oliver.  “So you’re a performance artist?  And all of the people here – they pay a fee to come in and watch you do what exactly?”

Ryan shrugged.  “Just live my life, basically.  I invite friends over sometimes, or I work out.  I cook, I play the guitar.  Sometimes my drama group and I stage something for them, but they definitely got a lot more excitement this morning than they’re used to.”

“And they weren’t here last night?”  Chloe asked.

“No, they started arriving this morning.  You slept in pretty late.”

“So how do I know you’re telling the truth about how I ended up cuffed to your bed?”  Chloe challenged him.

“Because I have cameras in here.”  Chloe felt Oliver tense up beside her.  Ryan seemed to notice as well because he hastened to explain.  “Not that I usually film – you know – personal stuff, but the cameras are always rolling unless I turn them off.  By the time we got back here, you were acting kind of weird, asking me about Little Red Riding Hood.  I’m not sure what that was about.”

She’d obviously been trying to question him about Kelly.  “Then what?”

“I figured you just needed to sleep it off, but then you pulled out the handcuffs.  I don’t even know where you were hiding them in that costume.  I’ll show you what happened next.”  Ryan grabbed his laptop off the counter and opened it up to show them the footage.

Chloe wasn’t sure what was worse – having no memory of the night before or watching it all play out on Ryan’s computer.  She was kissing him when they walked into the main room.  She heard herself asking him if he’d seen Little Red Riding Hood, and he laughed at her, saying she needed some sleep.

Her face heated up when she watched herself pushing Ryan onto the bed and straddling him.  She pulled the handcuffs out of the back of her pants – where had she gotten handcuffs?  They definitely weren’t part of her costume.  After clumsily attempting to cuff Ryan to the bed, he turned the tables on her and secured her wrist to the headboard.

He got up and went to the bathroom, and after a few minutes Chloe saw that she had curled up and gone to sleep.  Ryan came back and took the couch, and with Victor speeding the video ahead to morning, she could clearly see that Ryan hadn’t done anything at all to her.

Everyone at the table was silent as Ryan closed his laptop.  “I don’t remember… any of that,” Chloe said flatly.  “The last thing I remember is leaving the Blue Monkey and going to Gatecrashers.  I talked to the bartenders there, and they were having a costume contest.  I remember that I was going to go to Cosmos next, but I don’t remember actually going there.”

“You did go because that’s where I met you,” Ryan answered.  “We danced and had a couple of drinks, and my friend Noah was there.  He was inviting a bunch of people over to his place for a cuddle party, so that’s where we went next.”

“A what party?”  Chloe asked.

“What the hell is a cuddle party?”  Oliver hadn’t spoken much up until that point, and Chloe winced a little at how pissed off he sounded.  She had a feeling that once he got her alone, her ears were going to be ringing.  Even she had to admit she deserved whatever lectures she had coming from the team because her behavior had been beyond reckless.

“That’s a party where people go to snuggle with each other,” Bart explained.  “Like in a friendly way, not a sexual way.  You get kicked out for being too touchy-feely.”

“Dude, how do you even know about performance artists and cuddle parties?”  AC demanded.

“Hey, I’ve got lady friends everywhere, and I know stuff,” Bart shot back. 

Ryan looked over at Chloe.  “You really don’t remember any of this?”

She shook her head.  “Nothing.  I work at the _The Daily Planet_ and I’ve been looking into reports that someone might be drugging girls at the clubs in this area.  Two girls ended up dead after being separated from their friends.  Five other girls have reported blackouts just like this.  Two of them woke up with strange men… three if we’re counting me now.”

“Sorry.  If I can help, just tell me what you need.  I know a lot of people in this area.”

“What concerns me is that tonight is actually Halloween, and they’re having the Great Poker Walk event.  It’s been advertised all over the city, so it’s going to be crowded.  I’d like you to look at some pictures, tell me if you’ve seen any of the girls before.  And I’d like to talk to your friend Noah.”

“Noah is having another cuddle party this evening.   I could take you by there if you want me to,” Ryan offered.

Chloe could practically feel the tension rolling off Oliver.  “I’ll call you later today.  But we should probably get going.”

Chloe trailed behind Victor, AC and Bart as they left Ryan’s apartment.  “Oliver, wait.”

He stopped and looked at her but didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry, okay?  I know I screwed up going it alone, but I have to go back out tonight.”

“Look, Chloe I get it.  Something weird is going on down here.  But you should have told us what you were doing.  If that guy in there had been a predator, we’d be having a very different conversation today, or maybe we wouldn’t be having one at all.  And yeah, right now I’m mad at you, so I just want to get you over to Emil and let him run every test he can think of to see if we can figure out what happened to you last night.  We’ll talk about the rest later.”

Oliver grabbed her hand and Chloe sighed as she followed him to the car.  Needles and lectures – her day was just getting better and better.

* * *

 

Chloe took the last sip of the triple shot mocha that Oliver brought her after Emil finished drawing her blood samples.  Bart had busied himself with getting Chloe a change of clothes so she wouldn’t have to keep sitting around in her costume while Victor and AC tried to pull Oliver out of his foul mood.  But Oliver wasn’t budging from brooding hero territory, and the tense silence was making everyone uncomfortable.

Bart tried to break the tension in his usual manner.  “Gotta say, beautiful - going out in leather, hooking up with performance artists, cuddle parties – might need to start calling you Kinkalic…”

“Bart, man, cool it,” Victor warned, shooting a wary glance at Oliver.

Chloe stared at Oliver, slightly fascinated by the tick in Oliver’s jaw.  That kind of anger repression couldn’t be healthy.  Finally, she stood up and tossed her cup in the trash.  “Guys, think you could grab me another latte?  I’m pretty sure I’m going to need all the caffeine I can get my hands on today.” 

Bart stood immediately but looked confused when Victor and AC both joined him.  “You know, I can do this faster on my own.”

Victor sighed and shook his head.  “We’ll go get lunch and coffee for everyone.  Want anything special, Chloe?”

“Whatever you’re getting is fine, thanks.”  She watched them leave before turning to face Oliver.  “Are we going to talk about this or are you going to be mad at me all day?  Because it’s making everyone uncomfortable, and we need everyone on task tonight.”

Oliver looked up at her.  “Why didn’t you tell anyone what you were investigating, Chloe?  Girls assaulted and dead – that’s not the kind of thing you should be investigating on your own.  Hell, even Clark usually brings in the team when we have something like this.  What were you thinking?”

Clearly, she hadn’t been.  Not rationally anyway.  “I’ve already admitted that it was a mistake.  What else do you want from me?”

“A reason, Chloe.  You’re not stupid, so I know you must have considered that you’d need backup.  Is it because of what happened between us?”

Well, there it was – she couldn’t believe after five months of silence on the subject that he was bringing it up now.  “Don’t be ridiculous, Oliver.  Nothing happened between us.  That was a cover for the investigation. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the same situation with Clark.” 

Oliver stood up so suddenly that Chloe took a wary step back.  Maybe that was the wrong approach.

Oliver towered over her – why did he have to be so ridiculously tall?  He took another step forward, and then another.  Chloe backed up until she felt the wall of the waiting room behind her.  Oliver’s hands were on either side of her head, pinning her in. 

“So then why, Chloe?  You knew I was in town, and no matter how busy I am, I’d never let you go off on your own like you did last night.  Why not ask me for help?”  His brown eyes locked with hers, searching.

Chloe swallowed hard and tried to take a steadying breath.  All these months later, it was like her body recognized his – his heat, his scent.  Her stomach felt like it was full of Mexican jumping beans, and he wasn’t even touching her.  How did he _do_ that?

“I think it’s because we both know something changed between us that night,” he continued, voice soft as he leaned closer to her ear.

“You’re wrong, Oliver,” she said, proud of the fact that her voice sounded almost normal.  “Clark’s out of town.  I thought I could handle myself and I was wrong.  It’s not the drama you’re spinning.”  She ducked under his arm and walked toward the door but stopped when he called after her.

“What if I told you that something changed for me that night?”  Oliver leaned against the wall and watched as Chloe paused.  Maybe this wasn’t the time to get into it.  All he knew for sure was that he was damn tired of dancing around the knowledge that kissing Chloe had changed more than he’d wanted to admit to himself or her.

“Oliver, why are you bringing this up now?”

“You’re right - we should have had this conversation months ago,” he continued.  “But in my defense, I left town on a business trip, and when I came back you and Olsen were practically engaged.”

Chloe spun around to face him, her mouth open in surprise.  “We were _not_ engaged.”

“To hear Clark talk, that’s where it was headed.  You were playing house together, and you wouldn’t even look at me at that first League meeting afterwards.”  And Oliver realized now that had hurt him.  So he’d let her leave without saying anything, and he’d thought he was putting it behind him.  But his fear for Chloe had yanked him right back to where they’d started, and he wasn’t okay with pretending anymore.

A throat clearing startled both of them.  Emil stepped through the doorway from the main lab.  “Sorry to interrupt, but I have some preliminary reports you might want to take a look at.”

Oliver got the distinct feeling he was being dismissed as Chloe said, “You’re not interrupting anything.”  She followed Emil through the door to his office.

Oliver felt like beating his head against the wall.  God, Chloe Sullivan was possibly the most stubborn woman on the planet.  And even with all the trouble she caused him, he was beginning to think he really liked that about her.


	3. Falling for You

Chloe sat down across the desk from Emil and tried not to notice how close Oliver was as he sat beside her.

Emil adjusted his glasses.  “I’m still waiting for a complete analysis, but I can already tell you that there are high levels of meteor rock in your system.  Chloe, are you aware that you’re meteor infected?”

She supposed she should have seen that coming, but she’d been so caught up in whether or not she’d been dosed with something that she hadn’t considered the fact that Emil would realize she was a meteor freak.  She carefully avoided looking at Oliver as she answered, “That doesn’t have anything to do with the blackouts.”

“You’re meteor infected?”  Oliver’s tone was even – too even.  “And you didn’t think maybe that was something the team should know?”

“Clark knows,” she replied simply before turning her attention back to Emil.  “The point is that I know I didn’t use my meteor ability last night, so it’s irrelevant at the moment.”

Emil looked at with a raised brow.  “I don’t think I would say it’s irrelevant.  May I ask what your ability is?”

She hesitated.  “I can… heal people.  I heal injuries.”

“And how does that affect you physically?”  Emil prodded.

“It’s not pleasant, if that’s what you’re asking,” Chloe said a bit testily.

“Empathic healing then.  It’s likely a tremendous strain on your body,” he commented.

“Dr. Hamilton, I really don’t need to be counseled on my meteor ability.  And if that’s the only information you came up with in the lab, I think we’re back at square one,” she added sarcastically.

Emil folded his hands on his desk.  “I’m asking these questions because it could have some bearing on my other findings, especially given that your ability is healing.  Are you able to heal yourself of injuries?  Your bruises, for example,” he gestured toward her left wrist.

“I don’t think it works that way, but I’ve never actually tried.”  _Just spit it out Chloe – Oliver already knows you’re a freak._   “The first time I used my ability, it was an accident.  Lois had been shot and when I found her… when I found her, I think she was dead.”

Emil sat back, surprised.  “You healed your cousin after she died?”

Chloe nodded.  “I think so, but healing that way is dangerous.  I died that day, and I woke up in the morgue.  Clark got me out.”  She glanced at Oliver, but his expression was unreadable.  “Oliver, I would have said something if I thought it was important, but after the second time I used my ability, I promised Clark I wouldn’t do it anymore.”

Oliver ignored Chloe and spoke to Emil.  “You said this might have a bearing on your other findings.”

Chloe sat back, pushing away the feelings of hurt as Emil continued.

“I found traces of more than one type of meteor rock, Chloe.  The second type was…”

“Oh my God – red kryptonite!”  Chloe exclaimed.  Suddenly this was all making more sense.  “But Red K doesn’t usually kill anyone, and two girls ended up dead.”

“Yes, but I believe it was refined and mixed with some other chemicals.  I can’t be sure until the full breakdown comes back from my lab, but it appeared to be similar to other designer drugs I’ve seen in overdose cases.”

“So someone created a new designer drug using red kryptonite, and it’s circulating through the club scene.  At least now we have a place to start.  How much longer until the full analysis comes back?”  Oliver asked.

“I put this at the front of the queue with my lab assistants.  I have patients this afternoon, but I’ll rearrange what I can in order to concentrate on this.  And Chloe, when this case is over, I’d like for you to come back for a full workup.”

“But…”

“I second that.  Every team member has had the same physical, Chloe.  No arguments.”  Oliver’s tone clearly suggested he wasn’t going to budge on the topic.

“Fine.  I’ll call and make an appointment.  Are we done for now?”  Chloe stood up, feeling a bit like she’d been railroaded and not liking it in the least.  At Emil’s nod, she walked back towards the waiting room with Oliver right on her heels. 

“You know, Chloe, I think if anyone has a right to be upset, it’s me.  You’re a member of my team, and keeping your meteor ability a secret is dangerous.”

She whirled on him so quickly, he retreated a step.  “I’m not a danger to you or the team Oliver.  The only person my meteor ability can harm is me.”

Chloe jerked the outer office door open and mentally groaned when she saw the stunned faces of Victor, AC and Bart.  Clearly, they had just heard everything.

“You’re meteor infected?  Since when?”  Bart asked, looking confused.

Victor and AC exchanged a look.  AC grabbed Bart’s arm.  “We’re just gonna go wait outside.”

“Wait a minute, I want to know…”

“Bart, not now,” Victor said as they hurried out of the waiting room.

“Well, this is just perfect.  You’re all going to be weird around me now, and that’s exactly why I never said anything.”  Chloe felt the burn of tears behind her eyelids, and she headed for the door, jerking it open only to have Oliver push it closed from behind her.

She leaned her head against it for a moment.  “Oliver, I don’t want to talk about this right now.”  She felt his hands on her shoulders, and she didn’t resist as he turned her around.

Oliver tipped her chin up, forcing her eyes to meet his.  “Chloe, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but this doesn’t change anything between us.”

“Really?  Because your anger suggests otherwise.”

“I’m angry because you were hiding something that could get you killed Chloe, not because you’re meteor infected.  What happens if Lex finds out about your ability?  Bringing back the dead would be right up his twisted little alley, and he wouldn’t care how much he hurt you to get what he wanted.”

“That’s one of the reasons Clark doesn’t want me to use it anymore,” Chloe admitted.  “But it’s also partly because he’s worried that one day I won’t wake up and… I guess I’m worried about that too.  But I can’t promise I’ll never use it again because if it meant I could save someone I loved, I probably would.” 

Oliver raised one hand up to push her hair back, his fingers caressing down the side of her face.  Chloe stilled, afraid if she moved he would stop, and it felt too good for that.  A moment later he bent toward her and their lips met in the merest of brushes.  Heart pounding, she raised her hands to his shoulders and pressed closer, allowing him to pull her up against him. 

Their first kiss months ago had been more urgent, both because of the situation and because the passion erupting between them had taken both of them by surprise.  This one was less hurried but no less passionate, and Chloe tightened her arms around Oliver, wanting to be closer still.

When he finally pulled back, they were both breathing heavily.  Chloe leaned back against the door, closing her eyes when she felt Oliver’s lips against her forehead.  It was a gesture that was caring and sweet, and it shifted something inside her that had long been dormant.

“Your meteor ability doesn’t change anything between us Chloe.  But when you kissed me five months ago, that changed things.  And what happened just now changes things.  And we don’t have to decide anything today, but I’m not backing away from this.”

Chloe took a calming breath before looking at Oliver.  “I’m not backing away, it’s just… a little outside my experience.”

His mouth turned up at the corners, and he whispered, “I’ll let you in on a secret – it’s a little outside mine too.  But I think we can figure it out together.”  He opened the door and held it for her before following her out of the waiting room.  “Now, let’s go round up the posse and make a game plan for tonight.”

Oliver held Chloe’s hand securely in his, and she realized something.  For the first time in years, she didn’t feel like she had to do everything alone.

* * *

 

Oliver had just finished placing a food order for the team when a gust of wind blew through the room.  Without turning around, he said, “Clark, nice of you to finally join us.  We need to have a talk about you and your habit of turning off your cell phone.”  Oliver turned and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms.

“Is she okay?”  Clark looked around the room with a concerned expression.  “And Lois made me turn it off because we were on a stakeout and the last time we were on one, my phone rang.  Where’s Chloe?”

“I’m here, Clark, and I’m fine.  Not a scratch on me,” Chloe answered as she walked into the main room with Victor and AC behind her.  “Victor was showing me a new QI upgrade that has a bug he’s trying to fix.”

Clark crossed to her in three quick strides and put his arms around her.  “I’m sorry.”

“Clark, it’s fine.  I know how Lois can be and if you and I were on a stakeout, I’d make you turn your phone off too.”  She hugged him back tightly.  “The Justice League rode in on their white horses and saved the handcuffed damsel, and things turned out not to be what they seemed anyway.”

Clark pulled back and examined her wrists with a frown.  “Handcuffed by whom exactly?  And these bruises don’t look like nothing, Chloe.”

Chloe took his hand and pulled him over to the sofa as she began telling him the story of what she was now calling The Great Red K Caper, much to Oliver’s amusement.  His smile faded as he watched Chloe and Clark sitting together on the sofa.  They just looked so natural together, and they had been friends for years, much longer than he himself had known Chloe.  He knew that Chloe had been hung up on Clark for a number of those years, and she’d all but said that something had happened between them in the past while working on undercover story assignments.  And maybe it was silly, especially given his own past with Lois, but he was beginning to realize how much that bothered him. 

Victor walked over to join him at the desk.  “They’re not like that you know.”

Oliver ran a hand through his hair as he turned away from the couple on the sofa.  “Maybe not, but they have a history that no one else can even begin to compete with.”

“True,” Victor acknowledged.  “But the reason we call it history is because it’s in the past.  Maybe you need to focus on the here and now because I saw the way she looked at you today.  It’s not the same way she looks at Clark – not anymore.”

Oliver remained quiet during dinner as he thought about this.  There was definitely something between him and Chloe.  There was absolutely no denying that now, not that he even wanted to.  And after her initial skittish reaction, it seemed that Chloe was done denying it as well.  After months of trying to forget about the kiss, of pretending it didn’t bother him that Chloe moved in with Jimmy afterwards, he was still trying to wrap his head around the way everything had changed in less than a day.

As they were cleaning up after dinner, Chloe said, “Before we head out, I need to get my costume from my apartment.”

Clark groaned.  “Do we really need costumes?”

Chloe shrugged.  “Maybe not, but if we’re all in street clothes at the biggest costume party of the year, we’re going to stick out.  It’s better to blend in.”

AC spoke up.  “I’m going as a beach bum. It’s what I wear all the time anyway except when I’m in the water. Then I’m naked.” 

Bart held up a hand.  “Dude, I just ate.  No naked swimming stories.”

“I can put together something Tron-like,” Victor added.  “What about you Bart?  I bet we could score some mouse ears and a tail. Speedy Gonzalez might be a good look for you.”  He grinned as he ducked to avoid the pillow Bart threw at him.

“I have a costume, bolt brain,” Bart shot back.  A gust of wind later, Bart reappeared wearing a Spanish bull fighting costume.  “I love Halloween,” he added in excitement, whipping his cape off and holding it out.  “Cool, huh?”

Clark looked at Chloe.  “You know I hate costumes.  If everyone else is wearing a costume, it won’t matter if I don’t.”

“Fine, you don’t have to wear one,” Chloe said, rolling her eyes.  She looked at Oliver with a raised brow.  “What about you?”

Oliver shrugged.  “I don’t have anything here in Metropolis.  I might sit this one out too.”  He wasn’t in the mood to wear a costume, though he admitted he didn’t mind seeing Chloe in another one.

“I can run you over to your apartment, Chloe,” Clark offered.

“I’ll take her,” Oliver said abruptly.  “We can meet you guys at the party.”

Chloe stood up and got her bag.  “Ready when you are.”

The drive to Chloe’s apartment was mostly quiet with Chloe shooting him questioning looks, probably wondering why he was being so quiet.  When they arrived, Oliver made note of the building.  It was an older structure but well maintained, and the neighborhood seemed comprised of young professionals and young married couples.  There was a neighborhood barbecue going on, and Chloe called greetings to a few people as they entered the building.  Oliver didn’t miss the curious looks he got from everyone, particularly the women.

“Mine’s a third floor walkup,” Chloe said as they took the stairs.  “I was lucky to find this place.  It’s old but nice, and the rent is reasonable.”  She stopped at a door at the end of the hall and unlocked it, waving Oliver in ahead of her.

Oliver shoved his hands in his pockets as he looked around.  “You and Jimmy got this place together, right?”

Chloe set her bag down on the bar that separated her small kitchen from the living room.  “Yes.  We had a joint lease, but he was nice enough to let me have this place.  He moved in with a friend of his who lives closer to the center of the city.”

He nodded, walking around to look at the brightly colored artwork she had put up.  “Nice paintings.”

“Gotta love a good estate sale,” Chloe joked.  “The only new things I bought are the sofa, chair and my bed.  Lois and I hit a bunch of estate and moving sales the summer after I graduated, and I painted the walls after Jimmy moved out.  I like more color than he does.”

The room was painted a soft but warm brown with one brighter accent wall in teal.  The cream colored sofa had a colorful throw across the back and the pillows mirrored the shades of the walls and artwork.  “I like the colors,” he commented.

“Thanks.  The rest of the apartment is kind of bare since this is the only room I’ve had time to work on.  Anyway, I’ll go put my costume on and we can get going.”

Oliver sat on the sofa and waited for her.  He’d been expecting to see signs that Jimmy had lived there with Chloe, but the place looked more like her than anything.  She had a small flat screen TV on the wall; he remembered Lois and Clark had both chipped in to buy it for her as a housewarming present.

He heard the bedroom door open and looked up, promptly forgetting what he’d been about to say.  Chloe was wearing a school girl costume – a very sexy one with a short plaid skirt and a fitted white shirt tied at her waist.  She had left a few buttons undone, revealing tantalizing glimpses of the soft swell of her breasts.  White thigh highs with black, platform Mary Janes completed the look, and her hair fell in loose waves around her face.

Chloe bit her lip as he continued to stare at her.  “It was my costume for a Halloween party freshman year. Actually, it’s the only Halloween party I went to at Met U.”

Oliver cleared his throat.  “Come here.”

Chloe looked almost shy walking across the room to stand in front of him, and he put his hands on her hips to pull her down on his lap.  He was hard, and with her thighs gripping him at the waist, he knew she must be able to feel it.

She settled against him, her breath hitching a little, and put her arms around his neck.  “So what do you think?”

His answer was to kiss her slowly, and she responded with enough enthusiasm to make him want to forget the damn party and take her to bed.  He pulled back, his voice husky as he answered her.  “I think you look sexy as hell.”  His hands moved down to her hips, squeezing and pulling her in closer.

She kissed him again, and when they broke apart he continued.  “I want you to stay with me tonight, but I don’t want to rush you into anything you’re not ready for.  And I want Clark and Lois to know about us.”

Chloe met his gaze, her fingers rubbing against the back of his neck lightly.  “There’s an us?”

“Yeah, I think there is.  I want there to be an us.”

She was quiet for a minute and then she nodded.  “Okay.”

Oliver released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.  “Okay to…?”

“Okay to both,” she answered with a smile.

He stood with her in his arms and kissed her once more before setting her on her feet.  “Then let’s get this party started, Sullivan.”

She giggled in response.  She always sounded so happy when she laughed, and he couldn’t help thinking that he wanted to hear a lot more laughter from her.  Maybe things _were_ happening fast – or maybe he’d just been really good at ignoring what had been there for months.  Either way, he wasn’t letting Chloe get away from him again. 


	4. Red

**A/N – Clark, cuddle parties, and Furries – oh my!  Gotta admit, I had fun writing this part.  I don’t actually know much about Furries, but I’ve been to a cuddle party.  They’re weird lol – and I felt a lot like Clark as I tried to observe from a distance.**

 

Chloe was very conscious of all the female eyes on Oliver as they walked into the crowded loft apartment where Ryan’s friend, Noah, was hosting the cuddle party.  He wasn’t in costume, which made him stand out from the rest of the men in attendance, and more importantly, he looked damn good in jeans, a dark green button down shirt, and his black leather jacket.  But then he always looked good no matter what he was wearing, and there would always be women waiting in the wings, eager to take whatever he was offering.

It was the reason she’d convinced herself that she imagined Oliver’s enthusiastic response to the kiss all those months ago.  She’d told herself that for him it had been a role to play, a way out of their dangerous predicament.  And if he had responded physically, well – he was still a man, and men couldn’t always control that sort of thing. 

For her, the moment in the library had been a rather shocking epiphany.  The fact that she harbored an attraction to Oliver wasn’t surprising – he was rich, powerful, easy on the eyes, and he was a hero on a mission to save the world.  Add to that his bad boy streak and his cocky attitude, and who could blame her for acknowledging an attraction?  She’d felt it from the moment she laid eyes on him in Clark’s barn.   But she’d never felt anything like what she felt when she kissed him, not even with Clark at the height of her schoolgirl crush. 

Frankly, it had been scary.  There had been an intensity to that moment and the way he had touched her – desperately, as if he were feeling all the same emotions she was and then some.  Standing in the bathroom later, trying to get herself back under control, she’d told herself to rein in her runaway imagination and any ideas that Oliver Queen wanted Chloe Sullivan.  Because the hero falling for the sidekick only happened in fairy tales and movies, and she refused to waste time pining like she’d done for so long with Clark.

So she’d donned her metaphorical armor and finished the evening on Oliver’s arm, and when Oliver didn’t bring it up on the drive back to meet the team at the Clocktower, she’d assumed she was right.  Then he’d been called back to Star City on business.  Feeling a bit guilty, Chloe had jumped at Jimmy’s suggestion that they live together after she graduated.  They had already moved into the apartment by the time Oliver returned, and again she told herself she was only imagining that he’d been bothered by that information when it came out during a League meeting.

But she definitely hadn’t imagined the way he kissed her today at the hospital, nor had she imagined the things he said to her there and later at her apartment.  Regardless, she was still trying to wrap her brain around the fact that Oliver wanted her, that he wanted to be with her.  And if he was ready to tell Lois and Clark about it then he must actually be serious.  She was sure he meant it when he said he cared about her because he would never play with her emotions for the hell of it.

So, he wanted her.  But for how long?  Because Oliver never stayed in one place for long, and he was constantly being linked to heiresses, actresses and supermodels in entertainment news.  On the surface it wasn’t much of a competition, and she had no doubt that the gossip columnists would rather viciously point that out if they went public.  And it wasn’t so much that she cared what other people thought; it was more that she was afraid she’d forever be waiting for the other shoe to drop. She knew she wasn’t really being fair to Oliver but after getting back on her own two feet in recent months, she was more concerned with being fair to herself.

As if he sensed the doom and gloom her thoughts were mired in, Oliver squeezed her hand and pulled her in closer as they moved through the room looking for Clark and the team.  He smiled down at her, his hand moving down to squeeze her hip gently.  “You okay?”

Chloe smiled, but it was a feeble attempt at best.  “I’m fine.”

Oliver shook his head and pulled her over to stand by one of the large windows.  “I don’t think so.  You’ve got the same look on your face right now that you had when you walked out of the bathroom five months ago determined to ignore the fact that when you kissed me, we both felt something.  Just talk to me – tell me what you’re thinking.”

Her gaze slid away from his for a moment.  “I was just wondering how long you were going to be in Metropolis.”

Oliver tilted her chin up with a gentle finger, forcing her eyes back to his.  “Chloe, I thought you knew I was staying in Metropolis indefinitely.  I mean, I’ll have business trips back to Star City every month; there’s no avoiding that.  But I decided months ago to stay here.  That’s the reason I was gone for so long on that business trip five months ago – I was trying to get everything squared away at the Star City office.”

“Wait, you decided this after what happened with us?”  Her brows drew together.  “But that night you never said a word that led me to believe that kiss meant anything.”

“In my defense, you kind of blindsided me,” he replied.  “It took me a few days to process it, and then I had to leave on business.  But I couldn’t stop thinking about you, so I decided that I wanted to stick around Metropolis.  I was planning to talk to you when I got back and try to find out where your head was at.  There were obvious complications, like Jimmy – I knew you were dating, but it didn’t seem all that serious until I got back and you were living together.”

Chloe didn’t miss the slight bitterness in his tone.  “I didn’t do that to hurt you, Ollie.  I think I felt guilty.  And we both realized it was a mistake pretty quickly.”  She was silent for a moment before continuing.  “I can’t believe you made that kind of decision after one kiss, and… I guess I’m a little worried that I won’t live up to whatever it is you’re expecting from me.  I mean, the types of women you usually date are nothing like me and while you’re quite the jetsetter, my life and career are both here.”

“Wow, you really don’t see yourself very clearly, do you?  Chloe, I haven’t been with anyone since that night.  I haven’t wanted anyone else – not even after I found out you and Jimmy moved in together.”

She stared at him.  He couldn’t be serious.  “You’re saying you’ve been celibate for _five months_?”

Oliver winced.  “Geez, try not to sound so shocked.  I have been known to keep it in my pants for longer than a week at a time no matter what the tabloids like to say about me.”

“No, I mean… obviously I know you’re not the player they like to make you out to be,” she hurried to explain.  “But that makes it sound like you were waiting for me, and you never said anything, and… why?  Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Like what?  First you were with Jimmy – making a move while you were living with him would’ve made me the bad guy.  Then he moved out, and trust me, I thought about it.  But I didn’t want it to end up being a rebound situation either.  And then the more time that passed, the more I started thinking maybe I should just try to let it go.  Clearly that didn’t work though.” 

Chloe stepped closer and put her arms around his waist, standing on tiptoe to press her lips gently to his jaw.  He turned his head and their lips met in a slow kiss that left them both breathless.  She pressed against him and kissed him one last time before pulling back.  “I’m sorry I’m such a doubter.”

“And I’m sorry I didn’t just talk to you about this a long time ago,” he said. 

“For two people who talk as much as we do, we don’t always communicate very well,” she commented ruefully, shaking her head.  She drew in a quick breath when he turned her to the wall and kissed her, pressing against her in a way that left no doubt as to his attraction.  She lifted her hands to his shoulders, sliding her fingers into his hair as she arched into him.

His brown eyes seemed darker, more dangerous when he pulled back to look at her.  “I swear to you that I am completely serious about this Chloe.  I’ve had five months to think about it, and that’s about five months longer than I’ve ever thought about being with anyone – I’m usually more of a doer than a thinker.  And if you’re worried about the tabloids then we can try to keep it out of the public eye for a while, but I want to tell Lois, Clark and the team.  I refuse to hide it like it’s something to be ashamed of.”

Chloe nodded.  “Let’s just take it a day at a time, okay?”  She leaned up and kissed him one last time before she slipped around him and tugged him away from the wall.  “Now let’s go find the guys and try to put this story to bed.  Then later, if you’re a very good boy, I might let you put _me_ to bed.”  She grinned at him.

He smirked and shook his head, allowing her to pull him forward.  “I like the way you think, Sullivan.”

* * *

 

 

Oliver kept Chloe’s hand firmly in his as they threaded their way through the crowds of people.  The loft apartment was large and according to signs posted at the entrance, cuddle activities were taking place in the back room.  When they found the cuddle room, he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face at the sight of Clark backed into a corner with a very sexy nurse practically plastered to his chest. 

“I think Clark is being cuddled against his will,” he remarked with humor, nodding in their direction.  He looked around and resisted the urge to laugh at the ridiculous scene.  A number of couples – some mixed gender, some same sex – were snuggled up together on chairs and couches.  On a large, fluffy rug across the room, about ten people were lying together in what could only be described as a puppy pile.  Oddly, it seemed Bart was correct and most of the cuddling was of the PG variety.

Chloe shook her head as they approached the couple.  “Having fun, Clark?”

Clark looked visibly relieved when he saw Chloe and Oliver.  “I was just telling her that you were on your way… uh, baby,” he replied awkwardly.  “See?  My girlfriend is here.”

_Oh, hell no_.  “Sorry, Clark, but Chloe is my cuddle partner – tonight and every night.  And no more cuddly undercover assignments, either,” Oliver said firmly.  When Chloe arched a brow at him, he added, “What?  You said we could tell him.  And I’m taking a firm stance on this undercover kissing business.”

“Your caveman tendencies aside, I never said I was kissing Clark on undercover assignments,” Chloe replied in an exasperated tone.  When Oliver raised his own brows, she said, “Okay, it may have happened once or twice, but that was a long time ago.”

“Man, I told you,” Victor said as he walked up with AC.  He held out his hand.  “Pay up, fish stick.”

“Wait, so you’re together?”  AC asked.  “Since when?”

“Since now,” Oliver answered firmly.

AC stuck out his own hand.  “So that means I win.  _You_ pay up.”

Victor shook his head.  “But something happened between you guys oh – about four or five months ago, right?”

Chloe crossed her arms.  “Are you telling me that you two made a bet about this?”

Both Victor and AC looked at her warily.  “It was more of an argument than a bet,” Victor hedged.  “But come on – I know _something_ happened.”

She rolled her eyes and reached for Oliver’s hand as Bart joined them.  “Yes, Ollie and I sort of had a moment a few months ago.  We didn’t talk about it until today, so it’s new and we’d prefer it to be private, but we don’t want to hide it from you guys.  And that’s all you need to know.”

“See?   _Months_ ago,” Victor smirked triumphantly.  “Like I said – pay up.”

AC sighed and dug in his pocket as Bart said, “Whoa, you two are together?  Since when?”

Oliver shook his head and nodded to Victor.  “They can fill you in.”  He turned to look at Clark who had finally managed to extricate himself from the nurse’s very hands-on approach to cuddling.  “Look, I know you’re probably dying to deliver whatever lecture I can see coming together in your head, but can we just leave it until later?”  Of course, it was his own fault for outing them so quickly. Looking at the situation from their perspective, he couldn’t expect Clark and the team not to have questions about them.  However, they still had a case to crack and that was tonight’s priority.

Clark pushed his glasses up and sighed, crossing his arms.  “I’m not your father, Oliver.  I just…” he shook his head.  “Never mind, we’ll talk about it later.  Does Lois know?”

Chloe spoke up.  “This all just happened, Clark, but I’ll tell her this week.”

He shifted uncomfortably.  “She uh, she might be meeting us at the clubs later.”

Oliver fought the urge to groan.  He’d had every intention of keeping Chloe extremely close that night – he hadn’t missed the interested looks she was getting from pretty much every man in the place.  She was like walking sex in her costume, and he wanted to make it clear she was taken.  But if Lois was there, that was a potential problem.  “Maybe you could just text her and give her a heads up?”

She looked at him in disbelief.  “You’re kidding right?  I am _so not_ going to send Lois a casual text message informing her that we’re dating.  I would never hear the end of it if I told her like that.  We’ll just deal with it if she shows up.”  Her eyes focused on something behind him as she continued, “Look, there’s Ryan.  And that must be his friend, Noah.”

Oliver turned his head and saw Ryan approaching with a tall, sandy-haired man about the same age wearing a long, brown coat over a rust brown button up shirt with fawn pants, suspenders, and dark brown knee boots.  Realistic looking guns were strapped to his hips, but upon closer observation Oliver could see that they were replicas.

Chloe held out her hand to Ryan’s companion.  “Thanks for agreeing to talk to us.  I was hoping you could take a look at a couple of pictures and tell me if you’ve seen any of these girls at your parties.”

“Yeah, Ryan explained what was going on,” Noah said.  He raised his hand to a young man passing by in a similar costume.  “Browncoats unite!”  They bumped fists as the other guy disappeared into the crowd.

Chloe glanced at Ryan who rolled his eyes.  “He’s a con geek on a Firefly kick – wears the same costume every year.”

Oliver had no idea what that meant.  When he sent Chloe a questioning look, she patted his arm.  “Never mind – you’ve never been to a con and you don’t really watch TV shows, so it’ll take too long to explain.”  She turned back to Noah and held out her phone to show him a picture of Kelly in her Red Riding Hood costume.  “Did you happen to see this girl a few nights ago?”

Noah took the phone.  “Yeah, she was here with some guy, but I had to kick them out. She was all over that dude.”

Chloe swiped her finger across the screen.  “And this girl?” 

He shrugged.  “Hard to tell – costume’s kind of generic.” 

Chloe showed him the other girls’ photos, and on the last one, he paused.  “Wait, go back to the last one.”  When Chloe went back to the previous picture, Oliver saw that it was Lenah Jones, the second girl who had been found dead.  “Yeah her – I saw her on two different nights.  I remember because the first night, she was with a guy at Gatecrashers and they were going at it in the men’s room if you know what I mean.  Then a couple of nights later I saw them at Gatecrashers again.  Only this time, they were fighting because he caught her with some other guy.”

Chloe glanced at Oliver.  “Gatecrashers is the last place I can remember being before my blackout.  I think that should be our next stop.”

Suddenly, Noah shouted, “Hey!  You two – out!”

Oliver turned to see a man and woman in elaborately detailed cat costumes making out against the far wall. It almost looked like they were doing more than just making out, but he didn’t see how that was possible in their costumes.

“Damn Furries,” Noah muttered as he headed in their direction.

Clark looked confused.  “Furries?”

Bart spoke up.  “Yeah, you know, they get together in communities and dress up like different animals and then pretend to be that animal.  But it’s like the cuddle parties – it’s not supposed to be all about the sex.”

“Are you serious?”  Clark looked dumbstruck and turned back to see Noah herding the Furries out of the room.  “You mean they do… everything like the animals?”

Oliver snorted in amusement.  “Clark, you grew up on a farm, man. How is it that you’re so squeamish about sex?  I mean, you must have figured out the birds and the bees pretty early, right?”

“Oliver, don’t tease him,” Chloe interjected, sending Clark a look of amusement.  “Come on, let’s get to the club and try to wrap up this investigation.  And it looks like Bart can tell you anything you need to know about cuddle parties and Furries.”  She raised a brow at the junior League member.  “I don’t even want to know how you know about this kind of thing.”

“Yeah, how do you know about all of this?”  Victor and AC were now looking at Bart with interest.

“See, there was this girl in San Diego…”

Oliver put his arm around Chloe and led her toward the exit.  “Pretty sure I don’t want to hear that story.”

Chloe glanced over her shoulder.  “It looks like Clark does,” she replied with a laugh.  “So, Gatecrashers?”

* * *

 

Fifteen minutes later, they entered the popular club in the center of the warehouse district.  The line to get inside was outrageous, but when the bouncers realized Oliver Queen was heading up their little entourage, they had no trouble bypassing the line.  Of course, that meant some time was wasted while the manager greeted Oliver and led them all to a private table that Chloe suspected had been cleared in a hurry.  Complimentary champagne arrived promptly, and the manager finally left them after assigning a waitress just for their table.

“Gotta love being on the town with Bossman,” Bart said with a grin, leaning back against the soft cushions of the sofa.  “We’re ordering food, right?”

After placing their order with the waitress, Chloe looked at Oliver.  “So, where should we start?” 

“What’s the last thing you remember about being here?” he asked her.

She thought about it for a minute.  “I stood at the bar for a while waiting for a seat to open up.  Then I talked to the bartenders, and I walked around the club and talked to some of the waitresses.  That’s it, really.  I don’t remember leaving.”  Considering she’d ended up at a club five blocks away, she was probably lucky to have made it to Cosmos unharmed.

“You were probably drugged here, then,” Oliver said, his expression serious. 

She realized he was thinking the same thing she was, and she squeezed his hand.  Shifting closer to him, she was just about to lean up and kiss him when she heard Lois.

“That line was ridiculous – good thing I know a billionaire.”  Lois dropped her bag on the table and sat down beside Clark.  “Ok, Chloe, spill it. Clark told me someone drugged you.  Why the hell were you investigating this alone?”

“Hello pot, please meet kettle,” Chloe retorted.  “Like you ever think about backup when you’re sneaking into restricted areas for a story.”

Lois pursed her lips as she stared at Chloe. “Fine you have a point, but my self-defense skills are about ten times better than yours.  If you’re going to investigate things on your own, you need to start coming to the gym with me.”

“Not a bad idea,” Oliver said.  “But Chloe has promised not to go running off halfcocked again, too – right?”

“Speaking of running off, I need to go ask around about Lenah Jones.  Now that we know she was here, I want to see if anyone remembers her.”  She sent Oliver a pointed look as she stood up.  “Clark, do you mind coming with me?”  She didn’t want to make Lois suspicious by disappearing with Oliver, and she didn’t want to leave Clark at the table.  One slip of the tongue and Lois would be on the scent before Chloe could explain how she came to be dating her ex. 

Oliver looked less than thrilled about it but didn’t object when Clark stood and joined Chloe.  They made the rounds of bartenders and waitresses and found several who remembered Lenah, mostly because of the fight she had with her boyfriend on the night she was killed. 

“You don’t think her boyfriend killed her, do you?”  Clark asked as they began walking back to their table.

She shook her head.  “Traffic cams caught him running a red light clear across town around time of death, and his roommate was with him.  Plus, there was no actual evidence of foul play which makes me think she somehow overdosed on the drug.”

“Maybe she was given the drug more than once?”  Clark speculated.  “You said Emil told you that the Red K was masking some of the chemicals in the drug. Maybe some of them built up in her system.”

“Maybe.”  Chloe paused when she reached the table to find Lois squeezed up against Oliver’s side.  Lois glared at Clark before going back to flirting with her ex.

Clark sighed and pulled a chair out for Chloe before sitting down beside her.  Chloe raised a brow at Victor.  “Clearly we missed something.”  She shot a look at Oliver, and his ‘What the hell am I supposed to do?’ expression almost made up for the uncomfortable feeling she had in her stomach. 

Victor cleared his throat.  “Bart might have mentioned the nurse at the cuddle party.”

Chloe glanced at Clark and shook her head.  Lois and Clark weren’t dating, but it was obvious lately that they were heading in that direction.  She really wished they’d get their crap together and just admit it already – preferably before Lois got even friendlier with Oliver to try and prove a point to Clark.

Deciding this was an excellent time to visit the bathroom, she stood up again and grabbed her bag.  “I’ll be back in a minute.” 

The restrooms were crowded, and at least twenty minutes had passed by the time Chloe was on her way back to their table.  Feeling thirsty, she uncapped the small promotional bottle of a new brand of vitamin water that someone had given her earlier and took a sip.  Suddenly, she felt angry.  Who the hell did Lois think she was?  Chloe downed the rest of the vitamin water and walked with determination back to the table.

* * *

 

Oliver was ready to put Lois and Clark in a room together and call a timeout.  It was painfully obvious to everyone at the table that Lois was using him to prove some kind of point to Clark, and Oliver really didn’t appreciate it, especially when Chloe had left the table more than twenty minutes ago. Only the fact that Bart had checked on her and reported a long line for the restrooms had kept Oliver from going after her.

Oliver was just about to make an excuse to get up when Chloe arrived back at the table.  He was half expecting some snarky comments from her about Lois practically sitting in his lap at this point – what he wasn’t expecting was for Chloe to lean down and push Lois away from him.  Before anyone could react, she was straddling his lap and kissing him.  Oliver wrapped his arms around her, instantly forgetting everyone else at the table as she began to grind her hips against him.

Chloe raised her head and glared at Lois.  “If you’re mad at Clark, then be mad at him.  But keep your hands to yourself.”

Lois gaped at her.  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Chloe’s eyes flashed red, and Oliver pushed her back.  “Damn, I think she’s been dosed with the Red K drug.  Chloe, did you drink anything while you were gone?”

Lois picked up Chloe’s bag and pulled out the empty vitamin water bottle.  “Maybe this?” 

Chloe grabbed for her bag.  “Give me that.”  She lunged off Oliver’s lap and took a swing at Lois.  Since she had the element of surprise, her fist connected with Lois’ jaw, and Lois reeled back.

“Whoa!”  Oliver grabbed Chloe and pulled her back.  “I think we need to get you to the hospital to see Emil.”

Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to kiss him again.  When he resisted, she pouted.  “But you said I was going home with you.  I don’t need to see Emil.”

Clark helped Lois up and looked at Chloe with concern.  “Oliver, if this is her second dose of the drug in less than twenty-four hours, it could be dangerous.  We don’t know what’s in this stuff or exactly what killed the two girls who died.”

Oliver swore again and stood up with Chloe in his arms.  “Let’s go.”


	5. All They Ever Wanted

Oliver paced the waiting room at Metropolis General.  They had brought Chloe in a half hour earlier, and since then they hadn’t heard a word from Emil or anyone else.  He strode over to the nurse’s station again.  “I need to know how Chloe Sullivan is doing.  And this time, I don’t want to hear that you don’t know anything yet.  You send someone back there and…”

“Oliver.”

He turned to see Emil standing behind him, a disapproving expression on his face.  “Intimidating the hospital staff doesn’t make the lab results come back any faster.”

Oliver chose to ignore that as the others walked over to join them.  “How is she?”

“She’s dehydrated, but I suspect she has that problem often due to the fact that she drinks more coffee than water,” Emil replied.  “As for the drug, it seems to be burning through her system at a more rapid rate than I was expecting.  Perhaps that’s because of…”

“She has a fast metabolism,” Clark suddenly interrupted him with a slight shake of his head, cutting his eyes towards Lois.

Understanding dawned on Emil’s face.  “Yes, her metabolism.  We’ve sedated her, and she’s resting.  If her labs look good tomorrow, she can go home.”  Emil adjusted his glasses.  “As for the vitamin water sample you gave me, it’s definitely been laced with the drug, though in a much smaller dose than I was expecting.  It appears that someone was experimenting with an energy formula to which people could become addicted.  It’s down now, but Chloe’s blood pressure was quite high when you brought her in.”

“So we’ve got red kryptonite mixed with a designer drug that was also modified and used in a vitamin water energy drink,” Victor commented, shaking his head in disgust.  “Now that we know Chloe is okay, we should get back out there and see if we can track this formula to its source.”

“You guys go,” Oliver said.  “I’m going to stay here for a while.  If you need me then call, but otherwise…”

AC clapped him on the shoulder.  “Not a problem, Ollie.  We’ve got this.”

Clark glanced at Emil.  “Can we see her?”

“I don’t see why not.  Just be quiet and let her rest.”

Oliver, Lois and Clark followed Emil through the emergency doors and took the elevator up to the third floor and one of the best private rooms Met Gen had to offer.  Two nurses were monitoring Chloe, who was sleeping.  At Emil’s nod, one of them left while the other handed her chart to him.

Oliver walked over to the bed and picked up the small hand not connected to the IV.  It was cold, and he folded his larger hands around hers, dropping his head to kiss her palm.  When he looked up, both Clark and Lois were staring at him.

Clark cleared his throat and walked over to the other side of the bed.  He looked down on his friend and ran a hand over her hair, smoothing it back before looking at Emil.  “And you’re sure she’ll be fine?”

Emil nodded.  “The main reason we sedated her was because of the red kryptonite side effects.  She became rather loud at one point in her demands to see Oliver.”

Under any other circumstances, Oliver might have laughed at that.  But even knowing Chloe would be fine didn’t make seeing her in a hospital bed any less disturbing.

Clark glanced at Oliver.  “Right.  I’ll check back in, but I want to go with the guys and see what we can find out about this drug.  Are you staying here, Lois?”

“Of course,” Lois confirmed.  “I should be here when she wakes up.”

“I’ll be back later, then.”  Clark leaned down and kissed Chloe’s cheek before walking out of the room.

Oliver could feel Lois’ gaze on him.  “Come on, Lois, out with it.”

Lois moved around to the other side of the bed and sat down in one of the comfortable chairs arranged for visitors.  “When did this start with you and Chloe?”

“We weren’t hiding it,” he answered.  “Remember that party I got Chloe into at Leiman’s?”  When Lois nodded, he continued.  “We almost got caught getting the information we were after.”

“I know.  That’s the reason Chloe asked me to write the story.”

“Chloe kissed me that night. It was a cover for us being in his home office, but that kiss just sparked something… like this attraction had been lying dormant and she poured lighter fluid on it.  I didn’t know what to think about it or what to say to her that night.  So I didn’t say anything, I thought – let it go, right? Then I got called back to Star City and when I couldn’t stop thinking about her, I decided to arrange things so I could stay in Metropolis and see if there was something to it.  Only…”

“Only she had moved in with Jimmy by the time you got back,” Lois finished the sentence.  She sighed.  “I knew she was rushing into that decision, I just didn’t why.”

Oliver nodded.  “Yeah, well, there wasn’t much I could do at that point.  We never even talked about it before today.  But it’s still there Lois – that fire.  And I’m really hoping that you can understand it and help Chloe feel like it’s okay for us to move forward.”

Lois considered that for a moment.  “Do you love her?”

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly.  “But the one thing I do know is that I have stronger feelings for her than I can ever remember having for anyone else.  I swear to you that I would never do anything to hurt her.  And she knows about my side gig – she helps me and the team out with research.”

“That’s not surprising, actually.”  Lois sat back in the chair and crossed her arms.  “Look, Ollie, you’re my friend and I love you, but I love Chloe more and I won’t apologize for that.  She deserves to be someone’s first priority, not come in second or third to all of your other responsibilities.”

“It won’t be like that.  Trust me, I’ve had five months to think about the pros and cons of a relationship with Chloe, and I want this.  I’m willing to put in the work to get us where we need to be.”

Lois stared him down but he didn’t flinch.  Suddenly, she smiled.  “Well then – I have absolutely no problem with you bumping uglies with my little cousin.”

Oliver shook his head, amused.  “How about we not phrase it that way?  We haven’t even gotten to that part of the relationship yet.”

“God, Queen, you must be losing your edge.  I mean, you’ve been with her all day,” she teased him before turning serious again.  “Promise you’ll take care of her?”

Oliver looked back at Chloe, his hands tightening around hers.  “I think that’ll be the easiest promise I’ve ever made.”

* * *

 

Chloe sat back in her chair, holding her phone to her ear with one hand while pinching the bridge of her nose with the other.  “Uncle Sam, you can’t believe everything you read in the tabloids.  And those photos especially – I was basically roofied while I was tracking down leads on a story, so it wasn’t Oliver’s fault.”  She heard a throat clear and looked up to see Lois standing beside her desk.  “I know – I love you too.  Say hi to Lucy for me.”  She hung up and dropped her head to her desk.

“Sorry, but there was no stopping him,” Lois said sympathetically.  “He’s already called me twice, and I talked to Uncle Gabe today, too.”

Chloe raised her head.  “It’s been a week. Don’t the tabloids have anything more interesting to report on?” 

“More interesting than Oliver Queen and his little school girl making out at cuddle parties and clubs?”  She held up The Inquisitor which was still running the photos of Chloe straddling Oliver at Gatecrashers, followed by the ones of her lunging at Lois.  “At least they’re not reporting you as under age anymore.”

“I think my dad and Uncle Sam are coming out here,” Chloe replied with a grimace.

“Well, consider how it looks to them.  You were on again and off again with Jimmy, and then you just up and moved in together, which lasted two months.  Now you’re with Oliver Queen, my ex and the same guy who was photographed frolicking with not one but _three_ supermodels at a club in Vegas just six months ago.”

“I set that up, Lois – we needed him to be visible that night for reasons I can’t go into here,” Chloe said in a low, exasperated tone.

“Yeah, but it’s not like you can tell them that,” Lois pointed out.  “You two are just going to have to suck it up and endure the fatherly lecturing coming your way.”

“We’ve barely had a chance to talk about this ourselves,” Chloe sighed, leaning back in her chair. 

The previous week had been very busy with the team tracking the source of the red kryptonite drugs – a Met U grad student by the name of Kevin Bontrager.  He had been studying properties of various meteorites found in and around Smallville.  He had also been funding his research by creating a new designer drug for the head of a local crime syndicate, a woman named Nicki Snowden.  When he accidentally got the red kryptonite mixed in with some of his drug samples, he discovered the red rocks masked certain properties of the drug.  He and Snowden then set up a human trial by distributing the samples of vitamin water laced with the drug.

When the team busted the operation and all the parties were rounded up by MPD’s finest, Chloe broke the story.  However, her front page byline had been somewhat overshadowed by stories of her relationship with Oliver that hit all the entertainment news outlets at the same time.  It was more than a little embarrassing to walk into the _Daily Planet_ after photos of her in her school girl costume were published, particularly since they featured her plastered all over Oliver and attacking her cousin. 

The first stories speculated on a love triangle, but the articles changed direction after learning that she’d been drugged on the night in question.  And even though Lois and Clark had made it clear to all curious parties at the office that none of it was Chloe’s fault, inquiring minds still wanted to know about her relationship with Oliver.  Kahn had gone so far as to label Chloe’s private life strictly off limits to Planet staff, stating that they were not in the habit of printing salacious gossip when there was real news to break.

Still, that didn’t stop the curious looks she got at work, nor did it stop the paparazzi from following her to and from work.  She and Oliver had talked briefly when he took her home from the hospital, and he’d stayed with her the entire day and night following her release.  Since then they’d tried to keep a low profile, but they were both tired of it. 

“Well, it’s quitting time anyway.  Oliver’s picking you up, right?”  Lois watched as Chloe powered down her computer and stood, slinging her laptop bag over her shoulder. 

“Yes. This isn’t going to die down any faster if we hide it, so Oliver and I decided that while we’re still going for discretion, we’re not going to allow it to rule our lives.  We’re having dinner at his place tonight,” Chloe replied as she grabbed her purse and a small overnight bag that she’d packed.

Lois raised a brow when she saw the overnight bag.  “You’re having dinner or each other?”

“He does have a guest room, you know.”

Lois snorted.  “Oh please – maybe Smallville believes that, but I know better.  Have fun!”  She smirked at her cousin before heading back to her own desk.

Chloe shook her head and made her way to the elevator, pausing when she saw that Jimmy was already there.  She sighed and stepped on.  “Hey Jimmy.  How are you?”  Even though they both worked at the Planet, Chloe hadn’t seen much of him since he moved out.

Jimmy smiled, though he looked a bit uncomfortable.  “I’m fine.  Uh, you should know there are photographers outside.  I saw them a few minutes ago when I was coming in from taking pictures of that fire in Grandville.”

“Oh… thanks.”  Chloe figured they had followed Oliver over since he was picking her up.  She glanced at the numbers lighting up to show the progress of their ascent – had this elevator always been so slow?

Jimmy cleared his throat.  “It’s okay you know – about you and Queen.”

Chloe glanced at him, raising her brows.  “Okay.”

“Not that you need my permission or anything,” he hastened to explain.  “It’s just that I don’t want you to think we have to be weird about it.  I’ve actually been seeing someone for a couple of months now – you know Sara Burkett?  She’s one of the copy editors on the second floor.”

Chloe had a vague recollection of a pretty, auburn haired girl who liked baking and bringing her culinary creations to share with co-workers.  “She bakes, right?”

Jimmy smiled.  “Yeah that’s her.”

“Well, I’m happy for you,” she said.  They were on the first floor now, and she let Jimmy push open the doors for her.  Slipping on her sunglasses, she saw Oliver leaning against one of the stone supports.  A few photographers were waiting near the street, obviously afraid to trespass on Daily Planet property.  She glanced at Jimmy and said goodbye before walking over to meet Oliver. 

Oliver straightened as she approached and took her bag as he leaned down to kiss her.  “Still okay with this?”  He nodded to the photographers.

“Not really, but it is what it is. The bigger problem is we’ll likely be getting a visit from both my dad and the General in the very near future,” Chloe answered as he slipped an arm around her and led her down the steps to his car.  He ushered her in, ignoring the whirr of cameras as he walked around to the driver’s side.

“It’ll get better,” he said as he merged into traffic and drove toward the Clocktower.  “It’s just the way it all came out.  And both your father and the General are coming?”  He couldn’t contain his grimace.

“Yeah, well, one of us has a very unfortunate reputation you know,” she reminded him with a smirk.  “Dad was a little upset when he started Googling you and found the photos of you and those three supermodels in Vegas.”

“That was _your_ idea!”

She couldn’t help laughing.  “Don’t worry, they’re both busy with work, so we probably have at least a few weeks before my family descends on us Sullivan-Lane style.  And we have Lois and Clark in our corner.” 

Oliver glanced over at her.  “So what do you want to do about dinner?  Do you want to brave the paparazzi and go out or just order in?”

Chloe’s stomach clenched in anticipation as she said, “I vote for staying in.”  She was pretty sure she knew where this night was going, and she was both excited and nervous about it.  Despite the fact that Oliver had stayed with her the night after she was released from the hospital, they had done nothing but talk and then sleep.  And though he had told her that he was fine with waiting for her to be ready, she didn’t really want to wait any longer. 

When they got to the penthouse, Chloe changed into more comfortable clothes and emerged to find Oliver finishing up their order.

He hung up the phone and put the menu back in the kitchen drawer.  “Dinner should be here in about thirty minutes.”

She felt almost shy as she joined him.  “Okay.”

Oliver held out his arms.  “Come here.”

Chloe didn’t hesitate, wrapping her arms tightly around him as he lifted her onto the counter and kissed her thoroughly.

He pulled away slightly and tucked her hair behind her ear.  “Hi.”

She smiled at him.  “Hi yourself.”  She kissed him again.  “How was work?”

“Boring.  You?”  He kissed her neck, sending a shiver through her.

“Definitely not boring – too many people staring at me for that,” she answered.  “And some of the female reporters have been downright catty this week.”

Oliver smirked at her.  “They’re just jealous – I mean, you are dating _the_ Oliver Queen.”

Chloe rolled her eyes.  “Shut up and kiss me, Queen.”

The kissing continued until dinner arrived, and then it continued during dinner, with both of them feeding each other bits of food.  But the food was soon forgotten when Chloe ended up in Oliver’s lap at the table and things got even more heated.

She pulled back and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.  “Why don’t you clean up here and I’ll meet you in your room in a few minutes?”

Oliver was also breathing heavily, his eyes dark with desire.  “You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”  She kissed him one more time before getting up, grabbing her overnight bag, and heading for the guest bathroom.

Oliver cleaned up the remains of their dinner and then took a quick shower.  Slipping on a pair of boxers, he sat against the headboard and waited for Chloe.  Ten minutes later he heard the door open and when he saw her walk into his bedroom, every part of his body hummed to attention.

She was wearing the same school girl costume she had worn on Halloween, and Oliver swallowed hard.  She looked impossibly sexy and adorable and almost innocent, a combination he couldn’t imagine anyone else pulling off.  Slipping off the heels, she climbed up onto the bed and straddled his lap.

Her breathing hitched as she felt the evidence of his arousal against her.  “Since Halloween didn’t quite turn out like we planned, I thought I’d give this another try.”

“You are definitely not wearing this out in public again,” Oliver said as he ran his hands down her back, spanning her waist and then her hips, thumbs stroking over her hipbones.  “But you can wear it here every night if you want to.”

“I’d say that’s negotiable,” Chloe said, leaning forward to brush her lips against his, moaning when he deepened the kiss.  “What are you offering in return?” 

She shrieked as he turned them suddenly and she found herself staring up at him.  His hips instinctively found the cradle of her thighs, and he was amazed by how well they fit together.  “Well I’m a master negotiator, but I’d say you can probably get anything you want.”

She giggled as he buried his face in her neck.  “Careful – a girl could take advantage of an offer like that.”

“Feel free to take advantage any time you want,” he whispered, scraping his teeth against her earlobe.  He felt her shudder and moan, and he raised his head to look at her.  With her flushed cheeks and lips swollen and pink from their kisses, he’d never seen her look more desirable.  “God, you’re beautiful – and I have never wanted anyone more than I want you right now.  I’d give you whatever you wanted to keep you here with me.”

He could see that she was startled by the serious turn their conversation had taken.  But then she smiled and raised her hand to trace the cleft in his chin.  “Lucky for you, I have everything I want right here.”

As she leaned up to kiss him, he knew she was right about one thing – he was damn lucky to finally have Chloe Sullivan in his arms.


End file.
